Luckily, I was able to click the button and go back to my old time. The professor was very pleased that it worked the way it was supposed to. I explained to him that I really wanted to go back in time again, I knew that I had to. One time with Dorothy was just not enough, I needed to be with her again. The professor then gave me the actual time machine plus a smaller, portable one that he had been working on. So this time, I could go back whenever I wanted to. I quickly thanked him and left his office and put the time machine in my car.
When I sat in the driver's seat, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do next. I knew I wanted to see my grandmother but I also wanted to make sure everything hadn't changed. I decided the best thing to do was drive to my parents' house.
Once I got to my parents' house, I rang the doorbell and my mother came to the door. "Oh hello sweetheart, why are you ringing the doorbell? I thought your dad gave you a spare key to the house when you moved into your apartment for college?" My mother must have sensed the relief that came across my face because she raised her eyebrow up at me. It was true, when I moved out, my mom and dad gave me the key to their house so that I could come over anytime. But I knew I had to give an explanation.
"Oh yeah, I left it at home but I wanted to come over and grab something from my old room." She smiled and waved at me to come in before closing the door behind me.
"Well I'm glad you came over. I was going to call you, your grandmother called and wants you to come over as soon as you get the chance. She said the battery for her fire alarm is beeping so she needs you to put a new battery in."
When I heard that my grandmother needed to see me, I got a little nervous and excited. On one hand, she was my grandmother, the same sweet woman who raised me but on the other hand, I had just made love to her 40 year old self. I was lost in my thoughts when I heard my mom say "Do you need a key to her house to or did you forget that too?" I looked at her as an amused smile came across her face.
I stuck my hand in my pocket and felt both keys, but I only had one question.
"Nope, I got it. It's the house across the street right?"
My mom looked at me with concern gracing her features, yeah I wasn't subtle. "Yes honey... are you sure you're feeling ok? You're acting very strange."
"No I'm fine, I promise. Just one of those days, my brain is just elsewhere." I could tell she didn't look convinced but she smiled and nodded as I turned around and went upstairs.
I went straight to my room and pulled out an old family photo album. I started looking through it for signs of anything different. I flipped through page after page and couldn't find anything out of the norm. Maybe it didn't change anything. I shut the photo album and grabbed my notebook off the table as an excuse for my mom on what I needed then went back downstairs.
Once I said goodbye to my mother I drove over to my grandmother's house. I noticed her car parked in the driveway so I slowly walked up to her house and opened the door.
Once I walked inside, I started to survey the living room and kitchen. Everything looked normal. There was the wedding picture of my grandparents, and next to that the same old picture that was taken of them right before my grandfather passed. Obviously the affair didn't mess with their marriage which I was happy about. I was staring at the pictures on the mantle when I felt two arms wrap around my waist. I stiffened and turned around quickly to find that I had come face to face with my grandmother. She smiled up at me and silently took my hand and led me over to the couch. I followed her and sat on the couch as I was genuinely confused. Sure she has hugged me a million times before but there was something a bit more intimate with this hug.
I spoke up first saying, "Mom told me your fire alarm battery needed chang-" I stopped mid-sentence when she started giggling, "Ok I'm guessing that's not it?" I asked, unsure of what was going on.
"No dear, we need to talk. You don't know this yet but you tell me everything that happened later on."
